Rep: Campbell: Blame Obama for rising gas prices

Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) said on Monday that drivers should blame the Obama administration for rising gas prices that he says could top $5 a gallon this summer.

"Just remember when you can't fill your tank at a gas station in June because the $50 limit on your debit card only buys you 9.7 gallons, you can lay it all at the feet of the president and the eco-radicals he supports, who have become a significant threat to our freedom and prosperity," Campbell wrote in his Monday "laptop report."

Campbell said the administration has created the problem by limiting oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, and rejected claims from the White House that it is not impeding exploration.

"That statement is completely false," Campbell wrote. "His administration has completely halted oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. He has blocked development of the enormous field in ANWR in Alaska."

Members of Congress from both parties, in particular those from Texas and other Gulf states, have pushed the administration to ease the drilling permit process.

Campbell also said the administration has done little to prepare for the political and military tensions in the Middle East that are putting pressure on oil and gas.

"We have a lot of natural gas in this country, but the administration is blocking new development of this resource under the guise of environmentalism," he wrote. "We have more coal than any other country, but they continue to try to block its use. And, although the president says he is pro-nuclear, the actions of his administration are exactly the opposite of his words, as they have been and are approving nothing in the way of nuclear power."

He added that nuclear is now controversial in the wake of the Japan crisis, but said nuclear power is still cheap and safe, and needs to be a growing part of U.S. energy policy.